Wintering Into Wisdom is an elegant story of friendships and love.  While much of the story is centered around the game of golf, this is not a golf novel.  The story is about people.  Golf is the catalyst that brings them together and serves as a temporary sanctuary as they deal with life’s real problems.  For Doc and Doug, a round of golf is several hours free of hospital duties to explore numerous intellectual issues from science to the meaning of life.

In a manner resembling classical Greek dialogue, they tackle any intellectual issue that confronts them – some with serious intent and some with humor.  Their observations of the travails and interactions of their friends serve their ongoing dialogue about meaning in the journey called life.  Because they are always seeking, many of the big answers are revealed to them.

For George – a likeable and successful businessman – golf provides a circle of friends and temporary escape from an unhappy home life.  Harry – an attorney – uses golf as a means of climbing within the social structure of the small town country club.

Divorce, scandal, death and betrayal are the forces that test the strength of the relationships among the foursomes.  Woven into the fabric of the story are characters like Jack – the consummate golf professional who is the loveable and respected standard bearer for the sport of golf – and Russ who is the enigmatic bar tender at the club who reads everything from Herodotus to Stephen Hawking.  A story-within-the-story is the tale of Doc and Doug constantly over-analyzing ‘the golf swing’ in their intellectual attempt to understand this difficult game.

This elaborate story follows the friends through many of life’s mundane problems as well as the more serious issues of illness and loss of friends and family.

Much about the meaning in life is revealed here.  Meaning can be learned, but it cannot be taught.